Baytown approves angled parking in downtown

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, August 30, 2005

The demise of the unpopular S-shaped painted stripe on Texas Avenue in Baytown's downtown district had been in the works since the beginning of the year.

By Albert Villegas

All Baytown City Council members were waiting for was a consensus regarding the type of parking residents wanted.

In the absence of Councilman Mercedes Renteria III, the decision was made final at last week's meeting when council members voted unanimously to go to 22.5-degree angled parking sometime in the near future.

Mayor Calvin Mundinger said the action is in keeping with the overall design of a revitilization plan. He hopes older businesses will remain there even after some modifications are made.

District 2 Councilman Scott Sheley said U.S. Rep. Gene Green has confirmed he is interested in locating a political office in downtown.

Chris Warford, owner of a vision health care business, said he "represented a majority of merchants" who, he said, favor Plan C, or 22.5-degree angled parking.

Worford said he conducted a survey of 105 interested parties, and 98 percent said they favored angled parking.

He also said 25 percent of those surveyed would consider not coming back if parallel parking was constructed.

Councilman Brandon Capetillo reminded audience members that the work won't begin immediately because city officials need to speak with a traffic engineer about plans.